Trolley-retriever.



P. N. VAN EPP;

TROLLEY RETRIEVEB. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25, 1913. 1 1 07 465.Patented. Aug. 18, 19M.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

- THE NORRIS PETERS 60.,PH010 L/THQ. WASHINGTON. L). c.

P. N. VAN EPP. TROLLBY RETRIEVBR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 25, 1913.- 1,1O7,4659 Patented Aug.18, 19m

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE NORRIS PETENS CO. PHOTD-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. D C.

P. N. VAN BPP.

TROLLEY RE'IRH'WER. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 2a, 1913.

Patented Aug. 18, 1914 UNITED sTATEs PATENT onnro PAUL N. VAN EPIP, OFMEDINA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD 'IO LAKE E. OWEN, OF

CATAWBA ISLAND, OHIO.

TROLLEY-RETRIEVER.

Application filed January 25, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PAUL N. VAN Err, citizenof the United States, residing at Medina, in the county of Medina andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTrolley-Retrievers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to trolley retrievers such as are used oninterurban electric overhead trolley cars for the purpose of preventinginjury to the trolley pole and wire should the trolley wheel jump thewire, and particularly to that form of retriever which includes a springactuated drum connected by a cable to a trolley pole and means forthrowing the drum into operation to retract the trolley pole when thelatter slips off the trolley wire.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a practical andproficient retriever of this type of relatively simple construction,easily operated and easily adjusted to the different requirements ofoperation.

A further object is to provide means in connection with the main drumwhereby the slack in the trolley rope may be taken up and the slightrise and fall of the trolley wheel permitted so that the trolley wheelmay follow the overhead conductor or wire and accommodate itself to thevarying altitude thereof without affecting the trolley loweringmechanism.

A further object in this connection is to provide means whereby thetension of the spring of the auxiliary drum, that is the spring whichkeeps a constant light tension upon the trolley rope, may be adjusted asdesired and whereby the spring may be allowed to run down if necessary.

A further object is to provide means whereby the main spring whichactuates to retrieve the trolley when the trolley wheel slips from thewire may be adjusted to said varying conditions and whereby it may beallowed to entirely run down if desired.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improved retriever on the line 1-1of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig.8 is a perspective view show ing the base member, the power springarbor, the rope drum, and the front'plate of Specification of LettersPatent. Patented Aug, 18, 1914 Serial No. 744,265.

l the rope drum, these parts being separated;

Fig. 4 is a rear inner face view of the rope drum showing the governorarms; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the outer face of therope drum with the latch washer in place, this view also showing thearbor for the rope winding spring; Fig. 6 is a perspective detail viewof one of the governor arms; and Fig. 7 is a detail view of the detentfor holding the main spring arbor from operation.

My improved retriever as illustrated in the accompanying drawingsincludes a base plate or back plate 2 which is adapted to be supportedin any suitable manner and preferably attached to the rear dash board ofa trolley car, the plate being formed with ears 3 having openings 4 forthe passage of attaching bolts. Projecting from the center of the plateand formed integral therewith is a hub 5, and arranged concentrically tothis hub and projecting in the same direction is an annular wall 6formed at its inner end with an outwardly turned annular flange 7. Thisflange is perforated at a plurality of points, as at 8, to provide forthe attachment of a housing or casing, as

will be later described, and is provided at diametrically oppositepoints with cut-away portions 9 and 10. The cut-away portions providefor the ready insertion of bolts through the perforations 4t, and therecess or cutaway portion 9 is beveled as at 11 for a purpose to belater stated. The hub 5 is counter-bored as at 12, the bore being screwthreaded to receive a screw threaded pin, as will be later stated. Itwill be noted from Fig. 3 that the hub 5 extends out beyond the innerface of the flange 7.

Rotatably mounted upon the hub 5 is an arbor 13 formed integral with acircular disk or plate 14 which extends out beyond the inner face of thewall 6 so as to overlap the flange 7. The circumference of the arbor 13is formed with the longitudinally extending shoulder 15 for engagementby a spring 16. This spring at one extremity is bent so as to hook overor into this shoulder 15 and at its other extremity is attached to thewall 6 of the casing by means of a bolt 18. It will be understood, ofcourse, that this spring 16 is a volute spring of relatively greattension when wound up. The depth of the arbor 13 is such that the plate14: is entirely out of contact with the edge of the each pair of thelugs 19. The lugs are triangular in shape so as to present a gentlyinclined face on one side and an acutely angled face on the other side.

Surrounding the hub 5 is a disk or plate 22 having a centrally disposedsleeve 23 which fits upon and rotates on the hub 5. The sleeve 23 is ofsuch a depth that the inner face of the plate 22 does not come incontact with the outer faces of the lugs 21. The face of the plate 22which is directed toward the plate 14 is formed at opposite points ofits diameter with the stops 24 which project toward the plate 14 andwhich are arranged inward of the path of movement of the'lugs 21 so thatthe stops will not come in contact with the lugs. The purpose of thesestops will be hereinafter stated. The opposite side of the plate isformed with an annular wall 25 forming a rope drum arrangedconcentrically to the axis of the plate 22, this wall being bored at aplurality of points, as at 26, for the accommodation of attaching thescrews. The sleeve 23 is continued beyond the outer face of the plate22, as at 27, and extending radially from the ring so formed arereinforcing or strengthening ribs 28. Where the bores 26 are formed inthe wall 25 the wall is thickened as at 29 so as to strengthen it atthese points to accommodate relatively large screws. The opposite faceof the plate 22, that is, the face directed toward the plate 14, isformed at opposite points with the screw threaded sockets 30 for thereception of stud bolts 31, and rotatably mounted upon these bolts arethe governor arms 32, one of which is illustrated in detail in Fig. 4.It will be seen that these governor arms are unequally pivoted so thatthe pivot screw 31 is nearer to one end of the arm than the other. Thelong end of the arm is provided at its termination with a relativelythick head 33 formed with an inclined face 34. Each governor armintermediate its pivot and the head is perforated at 35 for theattachment of a link 36, which link extends to and is pivoted to thereduced end of the other governor arm. The governor arms are thereforeconnected by two links 36.

Projecting from the face of the plate 22 is a stud 37 through whichpasses a screw threaded spring adjusting pin 38 connected at its end toa coil spring 39 whose other eX- tremity is connected to the headed endof one -of the governor arms, preferably by means of a swivelconnection, in this instance shown as a cotter pin 40. It will beobvious that by rotating the adjusting screw 88, the tension ofthespring 39 may be increased or diminished to any desired extent, and itwill also be plain that the spring 39 willrotate with the adjustingscrew 88 so that the spring will not be subjected to any torsionalstress. It will be also noted from Fig. 4 that when the governor armsare thrown outward, as by centrifugal force, and against the force ofthe spring 39, the back of each governor arm will come in contactwiththe inner face of the corresponding lug 24 but that under normalcircumstances the spring 39 will act to draw the governor arms into fullline position, as in Fig. 4, and that one or both of the governor armswill then bearagainst a stop pin or pins, in this instance shown as apin 41 having screw threaded engagement with the face of the plate 22.

Disposed within the seat formed by the extension 27 of the sleeve 23 isthe thrust washer 42, a detail view of which is shown in Fig. 5'. Thiswasher is annular in form and has a screw threaded perforation 42 at itsthe bore 12 being reduced in diameter and smooth. The screw threadedenlarged portion 48 of this pin, it will be seen, engages also with thewasher 42 and comes flush with the face of the washer when the parts areassembled. The reduced portion of the pin is relatively long, andsurrounding this reduced portion and rotatable thereon is a rope tensionspring arbor 45, the inner end of which is formed with oppositelydisposed ratchet teeth 46 adapted to coact with the teeth 44' formedupon the washer 42. It will be obvious that when the arbor 45 is rotatedin one direction the ratchet teeth thereon will slip past the ratchetteeth 44 but that these ratchet teeth 44 will act to prevent any reversemovement of the arbor. The arbor 45 is held with its teeth in engagementwith the teeth 44 by means of a spring 47 which is mounted on theprojecting end of the pin 43 and is housed within a recess 48 formed inthe outer extremity of the arbor 45. This spring is held in placebetween theend of the recess and a washer 49 surrounding the extremityof the pin 43 by a cottor pin 50. The side faceof the arbor 45 adjacentits inner end is notched as at 51to receive and engage with the innerend of a coil spring 52 which acts to apply ordinary light tension tothe trolley rope. The other end of the spring is suitable fasteningmeans to the wall 25. It

will be seen that the wall 25 entirely incloses' and houses this spring52 and that the spring is slightly narrower than the depth of the recessinclosed by the wall 25.

Surrounding the arbor 45 and attached to the wall 25 is a circular plate53 perforated for the passage of screws 54 which enter the bores 26 inthe wall 25. This plate is reinforced around its central aperture bymeans of a reinforcing ring 55 riveted or otherwise attached to theplate. It will be understood, of course, that the arbor 45 is freelyrotatable within the ring 55 and that the plate 53 with the ring 55rotates with the plate 22 and its attached parts.

Mounted upon the flange 7 of the base and housing the rotatable partsheretofore described is a casing 56 having a circular side wall and afront plate perforated at its center so as to he slipped over the arbor45. The wall of the casing 56 at its edge is formed with an outwardlyturned flange 57 perforated for the passage of screws 58 whereby thecasing may be rigidly attached to the flange 7. The casing is formedwith a rope outlet eyelet or opening 59 whose passage extendstangentially to the wall of the casing, and it is formed at its top witha cylindrical housing 60 having a perforation 61 at its bottom leadinginto the interior of the casing. This perforation 61 is rectangular inform. The top and bottom of the side wall of the casing is formed withopenings 62 and 63.

The casing 60 is covered by a cap 64 perforated at its centerfor thepassage of a push stud 65. This push stud has a central collar 66, whichcollar contacting with the cap 64 limits the downward movement of thepush pin or stud. Disposed within the housing 60 and surrounding thepush pin or stud is a coil spring 67 which acts to force the studoutward. The lower portion of the stud is reduced to form a detent 68,this detent being rectangular in section and passing through the opening61. When the stud is pushed inward against the force of the spring 67,this detent projects into the path of movement of the lugs 19 on theplate 14. When, however, the spring pushes the lug outward, the detentis withdrawn from the path of movement so that the plate 14 may revolvefreely. It will be seen fromFig. 6 that this detent has one faceinclined, as at 69, and that this beveled or inclined face 69 fits thebevel on the end 20 of any one of the lugs-19. Thus whenthe beveled faceof the detent is in engagement with the beveled face of the lug 19, thelug 19 overhangs the detent and acts to prevent the retraction of thedetent by the force of the spring 67 as will hereafter more fullyappear;

The projecting end of the arbor 45 is covered by means of a cap 70attached to the arbor by diametrically-opposed screws 71. It will beobvious that by rotating this cap, which forms practically the head ofthis arbor, the arbor will be rotated and that if this arbor is rotatedin one direction, that is, the direction permitted by the inclined faceof the ratchet 44, the spring will be wound up, and that the spring maybe relieved of tension by removing the cap- 70, withdrawing the cotterpin 50, thus relieving the tension on spring 47 and thus permitting thearbor to be turned in a reverse direction to that originally stated,after which the parts may be put back in their original position. Aspacing plate 72 may be disposed between the face or flange 7 and theflange 57 if desired, this plate extending over the inner end of thespring 16 and absolutely preventing any contact between the spring andthe plate 14 and entirely housing this spring so as to prevent anychance of the spring springing out of its position if the casing andconnected parts are detached. A name plate or like collar plate may beapplied over the opening 63 of the casing, or the openings 63 and 62 maybe left uncovered.

For the purpose of attaching the rope to the drum, I provide the drum 25with a cotter pin 73 which extends out through the wall 25 of the drumand to which is connect: ed a chain 74. The trolley rope is provided atone extremity with a hook 75 engageable with the last link of thischain. The trolley rope is designated as 76 and may be of any suitableconstruction. It will, of course, be understood that the trolley rope isattached opposite its end 75 to the trolley pole in any suitable mannerand that this pole is held up against the wire or conductor by means ofthe usual spring, ordinarily having a tension of twenty-five pounds.

In assembling the retriever, the pin 43 is inserted in the threadedopening in the end of the hub 5 of the base plate. The power spring 16is then inserted within the housing formed by the wall 6 of the baseplate, the

outer end of the spring being anchored to the casing by means of thebolt 18 set through the wall 6. The spring arbor plate 14 is then fittedover the hub 5 with the arbor 13 inward and inside of the power spring16. The inside end of the power spring 16 is then anchored to the arbor5 by turning over the inner end of the power spring and catching it onthe rib 15.

The rope drum formed by the plate 22 and the wall 25 with the governorarms attached, as shown in Fig. 4, is then fitted over the hub 5 withthe sleeve 23 of the rope drum resting against the arbor plate 14 andserving as a bearing for the rope drum and a spacer for keeping thegovernor arms from touching the plate 14. The thrust washer 42 isthenslipped over the pin 43 and is threaded upon the outer end of thelarge end of the pin- 43 and the thrust washer is screwed home-until itrestsfiush against the end of the stud 5, and thereby securely holdstheplate 22 and rope-drum in position uponthe hub 5, allowing them torotate freely, however, and preventing anyend play. The

rope tension spring 52 is then inserted with slipped over the projectingend of the pin 43 and disposed in the recess in the end of the arbor 45and is held inplace by the washer 49 and cotter pin 50. The rope tensionspring is then anchored to the arbor 45 by having its inner end turnedover and caught in the groove provided on the arbor. The front plate 53is then fitted over the arbor 45 and attached to the rope drum by tachedto the back plate. The octagonal cap 70 is then fitted over the end ofthe'arbor 45 and securely attached thereto by means of the screws 71.The spring 67 is inserted in the casing 60, then the push rodor stud isinserted with its lower or detent end 68 ext-ending throughthe openingto the inside of the casing. The cap 64 is then fitted over the push rod65 and securely attached in place by means of screws. The name plate maythen be attached to the casing and cover the adjusting hole or openingin the casing. The retriever is now assembled.

The trolley rope is provided with a'steel hook or eye. The end of thisrope is inserted through the rope eyelet opening and the rope forcedinward until the end of the-rope is extended through the hole 63 in the'bottom of the casing 56. The hook end of the trolley rope is thenengaged with the chain and then the cap 70 is turned, causing therotation of the spring arbor 45 and causing the rope tension spring 52to be wound up on thearbor. By turning thecap 0 the rope drum will becaused to'revolve and to wind up the trolley rope upon the rope drumuntil the cap 70 has wound upon the drum a sufiicient quantity of thetrolley rope and until a suficient tension of' the spring 52 has beensecured. This tension should be about five pounds. In other words, the

' trolley rope should always be under sufficient tension to be kept tautbut free to pay out as the trolley pole rises.

In order to wind up the power spring 16, the following method is to beadopted: After the trolley rope is wound upon the rope drum and underfive pounds tension as before described, the trolley rope is to be givena quick upward jerk. This will cause the plate by means of the governorarms.

means of screws 54. The casing is then atto-be thrown outward in suchposition that they will engage with and catch on the pro- 'jectinglug 21of the arbor plate 14. The

rope drum willnow belocked to the arbor A continued pulling up on thetrolley rope Wlll cause the rope drum to be rotated, and this willrotatethe arbor plate 14 and arbor 13, thus winding up the power springaround the arbor 13. After the rope has been pulledout until the powerspring 16 is under proper tension, the push stud 65 is pushed in andthestrain on the rope is released. This'will cause the power spring 16to rotate thep'late 14 in a reverse direction until'one of theprojections 19 comes in contact with the detent 68. It will benotedthatit is the inclined face 20 of the projection or stud 19 whichengages the inclined face of the detent 68.

As the arbor plate 14 is under the heavy ten- I sion of the power spring16, the cutaway or inclined face of the projection 19 will be heldfirmly against the inclined face of the detent 68 and the detent cannotbe pushed outward but is held in its pushed-in position against thetension of the spring 67. Neither can this detent 68 be pulled outwardby hand, as the top ofthe stud-65 is just flush or even with the top ofthe cap 64. The power spring is now wound up and Y the plate 14 islocked by the detent 68. Upon the release of the rope, the rope drum,under the power of the spring 52, rotates backward in the oppositedirection from that of winding up. This causes the governor arms to bedrawn away fro-m engagement with the projections 21 and to be returnedto their normal positions by means of the tension of the spring 39.triever is now wound up and ready for op- The reeration. As long as thetrolley is on the wire, it will be evident that the retriever willeither pay out or wind in the rope as the varying altitude of thetrolley requires and that. the rope drum 25 is free to rotate in eitherdirection, the ends of the governor arms rotating in a path just insideof theinner edges of the lugs21 on arbor'plate 14.

The trolley pole is normally held up against the wire by a spring havinga resilient strength of about twenty-five pounds. Should the trolleywheel jump or leave the wire it will transmit to the trolley rope aquick, violent upward erk, This will cause the rope drum to rotaterapidly, thereby throwing the governor arms outward by centrifugal forceuntil the ends of the governor armsstrike' against the projecting lugsspring 16 for a short distance. This throws the projection 19 which washeretofore in engagement with the detent 68 out of such engagement, andthe spring 67 will throw the detent outward and completely out of thepath of movement of the projections 19. The tension'of the release powerspring now overcomes the force of impact on plate 14 by the governorarms, and as the rope drum and the arbor plate 14: are locked together,they will rotate as one under the tension of the power spring 16 in adirection to wind up the trolley rope upon the rope drum 25, therebypulling the trolley pole down. In order to reset the parts to operateagain, the trolley rope is pulled upward with a quick hard jerk. Thiswill cause the governor arms through their engagement with the studs 21on the arbor plate to wind up spring 16. The withdrawal of the rope iscontinued until the required tension has been secured. The stud 65 isthen pressed inward and held down and the drum is allowed to rewind therope until the governor arms release. VVhen this occurs, the pushbut-ton or stud 65 is released and will stay in its retracted positionwith its top flush with the cap. The retriever will now allow the ropeto be pulled out or wind it in, the power spring being to this extentinoperativeas long as the rope is pulled out slowly 110th ing occurs,but whenever there is a quick jerk, as of a trolley pole leaving thewire, the main spring 16 will be released and the spring will exert astrong enough pull on the rope to draw down the trolley pole.

It will be seen that my retriever is automatic in its action with themain spring 16 normally held out of operation but that it isautomatically released by the shock of the governor arms striking thelugs 21, and that when released it will immediately act to draw down thetrolley pole. It will also be seen that the tension of the main springmay be adjusted by drawing out the ropeslowly after this engagement soas to wind up the main spring and that after it has been wound up to theproper tension, is held by the pressure of the stud or button 65. Itwill also be noted that the tension of the rope winding spring 52 may beadjusted by rotating the arbor 45 by means of the octagonal ca 0.

It is pointed out that the parts of the device may be readily assembledand disassembled, thus permitting the device to be cheaply manufacturedand easily taken apart for repair or renewal, and that as the tension ofthe springs is adjustable, the retriever is adapted to be applied to anymake of car or trolley car having a trolley pole.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

i 1. In a trolley retriever, the combination with a trolley rope drum, acasing inclosing the drum, a spring continuously acting to rotate thedrum in a rope winding direction, and means projecting out of saidcasing and manually rotatable for adjustably tensioning said spring, ofa power spring, an arbor therefor, means manually shiftable intoengagement with the arbor and in this position holding the arbor fromrotation, means urging said holding means out of its engagement with thearbor, and operative when the arbor moves in a rope unwinding direction,and centrifugally actuated means for operatively connecting the powerspring arbor to the drum upon a rapid movement of the drum in anunwinding direct-ion whereby to release said holding means and permitthe power spring to rotate the arbor and drum in a rope windingdirection.

2. In a trolley retriever, a casing, a stationary hub or spindledisposed within the casing, a drum mounted upon the hub, a spring arbormounted in alinement with the hub and rotatable around the axial centerof the hub and projecting out of the casing for manual rotation, meansfor holding said spring arbor in any rotatably adjusted position, and aspring surrounding the arbor and connected at one end to the drum and atthe other to said arbor.

3. In a trolley retriever, an outer casing, a. stationary hub orspindle, a drum mounted thereon, a spring arbor disposed in alinementwith the hub and detachably connected thereto, said arbor projecting atone end through the casing and being thereby adapt-. ed for manualrotation, the inner end of the said arbor being formed with teeth, theouter end of the hub carrying coacting teeth, said teeth preventing arotation of the arbor in one direction but permitting of a rotation ofthe arbor in the other direct-ion, and a spring attached at its outerend to the drum and at its inner end to the spring arbor.

t. In a trolley retriever, an outer casing, a stationary hub, a ropedrum mounted thereon, a spring arbor disposed in alinement with the huband one end of said arbor projecting out through the casing and beingformed with a head whereby it may be manually rotated, coacting ratchetdevices upon the confronting faces of the hub and arbor preventing arotation of the arbor in one direction relative to the hub butpermitting said rotation in the opposite direction, resilient meansforcing the arbor inward toward the hub to hold the ratchet devices inengagement but permitting the arbor to be shifted outward away from thehub, and a spring disposed between the arbor and said drum and engagingthe drum and arbor.

5. In a trolley retriever, an outer casing, a stationary hub or spindle,a rope winding drum mounted thereon, a tubular spring arbor disposed inalinement with the hub and projecting at one end through the easing andbeing thereby adapted for manual rotation, the confronting faces of thehub and arbor having interengaging teeth, a detachable pin passingthrough the tubular arbor and engaging with the huband formlng a bearingfor the arbor, a spring mounted on said pin and forcing the arbor toward1 the hub, and a coil spring attached at its inner end to the arbor andat its outer end to said drum.

6. In a trolley retriever, the combination with a trolley rope drum, aspring continuously acting to rotate the drum in a rope windingdirection, of a power spring, an

' and operative when the arbor moves in a rope unwinding direction, andcentri-fugally actuated means for operatively connecting the powerspring arbor to the drum upon a rapid movement of the drum in anunwinding direction whereby-to release said holding means and permit thepower spring to rotate the arbor and drum in a'rope winding direction,said means including oppositely disposed arms pivotally mounted upon thetrolley rope drum at points diametrically opposite each other, linkspivotally connecting the arms to each other for coincident movement upontheir pivots, a spring engaging one of said arms and urging said armsinto a retracted position, stops limiting the movement of the armsagainst the action of said spring, and lugs carried by the arbor 'of thepower spring adapted to be engaged by said arms when the latter arethrown out by centrifugal force.

7 In a trolley retriever, a stationary hub or spindle formed with ascrew threaded bore, a rope winding drum mounted for rotation on saidhub, an interiorly screw threaded washer fitting against the drum andagainst the end of the hub, a pin hava ing a screwthreaded end portionengageable in the bore of the hub and the perforation of the washer, atubular member mounted upon said pin.- and held from rotation, and aspring attached at one end to the tubular member, coiled within the drumand attached at its other end to said drum.

8. In a trolley retriever, a central station-- ary hub or spindle havingan axial screw threaded bore, a rope winding drum mounted for rotationon the huband having a recess in its face-larger than theihub, a. washerseating in said recess and against the end of the hub and having acentral: sorew. threaded perforation, apin havinga screw threadedportion engaging with the washer and the hub and projecting beyondrtheface;

of the washer, an arbor having rotative adjustment upon the pin, and acoil spring connected at one end to the arbor and at its other end tothe drum and housed within the drum.

9. In a trolley retriever, a central stationary hub having an axialscrew threaded bore, a rope winding drum mounted for rotation on thehub, a washer normally bearingagainst the face of the drum and the endof the hub and having a central screw threaded perforation, said washerbeing formed on its outer face with ratchet teeth, a pin having one endthereof screw threaded for engagement with the perforation of the washerand the bore of the hub, a spring arbor rotatably mounted upon the pinand having ratchet teeth coac-ting with the ratchet teeth of the washer,a spring yieldingly holding the arbor in engagement with the ratchetface of the washer, and a coiled spring housed within the drum andconnected at one end to the drum and at its inner end to the arbor.

10. In a trolley retriever, a stationary hub formed with an axial screwthreaded bore, a rope winding drum mounted thereon, a washer bearingagainst the face of the drum and the end of the hub, and having acentral screw threaded perforation and ratchet teeth upon its face, apin having a screw threaded end engaging the bore of the hub and theperforation of the washer and pro- 5 jecting beyond the drum, an arborrotatably 1 mounted upon the pin and having its inner end formed withratchet teeth coacting with the ratchetteeth on the washer, the end of isaid arbor being recessed, a coiled spring sur-v rounding the end of thepin and disposed in said recess and acting to force the arbor :intoengagement with the ratchet teeth on the washer, a washer surroundingthe end of the pin and disposed in the end of the re- ;cess anddetachably holding said spring in place, and a take-up spring housedwithin ,the drum andattached at it outer end to g the drum and atitsinner end to said arbor. 11. In a trolley retriever, abase plate :havinga centralstationary hub and a wall gconcentric to the hub and formedwith an loutwardlyv projecting annular: flange, the ihub being formedwith a screw; threaded ibore and projecting beyond the plane, of theifaoe of said flange, a casinghaving a-mariginal' flange; detachablyconnected to the gfiange of the base plate, Jan arbor rotatable ,-upon:the stationary hub: and including a idisk formed withperipheral radiallyproi jecting lugs andhaving marginal lugs upon :its face, a coiled.spring mountedon the upon the hub and projecting at its end through thecasing whereby to permit a manual rotation of the arbor, means foradjustably holding said arbor from rotation in one direction, a coiledspring connected at one end to said arbor and at its other end to thewinding drum and housed within the winding drum, centrifugally actuatedgovernor arms mounted upon the inner face of the winding drum andadapted to engage said marginal lugs when thrown out, a detent mountedin the casing and manually movabl into position to engage the peripherallugs on the said disk to prevent a rotation of the disk, and a springurging said detent out of the path of movement of said lugs.

12. In a trolley retriever, a base plate having a central stationary hubformed with a central screw threaded bore, and a wall concentric to thehub and formed with an outwardly projecting annular flange, a casingconnected to said flange, an arbor surrounding the stationary hub andincluding a disk formed with peripheral radially projecting lugs, theface of the disk also being formed with marginal lugs, a coiled springsurrounding the arbor and connected at one end to the arbor and at theother end to the annular wall of the base plate, a sleeve mounted uponthe hub, a rope drum formed integral with the sleeve and comprising adisk having an inwardly directed flange concentric to the axi of thesleeve, said disk projecting beyond the flange, a washer disposedagainst the inner face of the drum and having ratchet teeth on its face,a pin screw threaded at its inner end and engaging said washer and thescrew threaded bore of the hub, said pin projecting beyond the drum, acircular plate detachably connected to the outer face of the rope drumand projecting beyond the flange of the same, an arbor rotatably mountedupon the pin and having ratchet teeth engaging with the ratchet teeth onthe face of the washer and a recess in its outer end, a spring connectedat one end to said arbor and coiled around the same and connected at itsother end to the flange of the drum, a spring surrounding the extremityof the pin and disposed in said recess and forcing the arbor inward andits ratchet teeth in engagement with the ratchet teeth of the washer,means on the end of the pin engaging said spring, a cap disposed on theouter face of the casing and detachably engageable with the arborwhereby the arbor may be turned to tension the spring, a detent mountedat the base of the casing and movable into or out of the path ofmovement of the peripheral lugs of the disk, said detent and said lugsbeing coactingly beveled on one face, and a spring urging said detentout of the path of movement of the lugs.

13. A trolley retriever including a base plate having a spindleprojecting therefrom, a concentric flange, a rope drum mounted on thespindle, a spring therefor connected at one end to the spindle and atthe other end to the rope drum, a rotatable member 011 the spindle, aspring therefor, centrifugally actuated devices mounted upon said ropedrum and adapted to operatively engage the rotatable member upon arotation of the rope drum in one direction beyond a certain point, anouter casing having a central opening to receive said spindle, aperipheral flange adapted to coact with the flange on the base plate,means for holding the casing to the base plate, a housing formed on thecasing, a latch disposed within the housing adapted to engage therotatable member to hold it from rotation in one direction but permitits rotation in the other direction, and a spring adapted to shift saidlatch outward upon a rotation of the said rotatable member with the ropedrum whereby to permit the reverse rotation of the said member and therope drum under the power of the main spring.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PAUL N. VAN EPP.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

